Surrey Coroner's Court was told how Mrs Hayward, who was suffering from depression, had become increasingly anxious in the weeks before her death about whether or not to move from her long-term job as an estate agent’s secretary, where she had become unhappy.

Family members also questioned doctors on their treatment of the Woking resident’s menopause symptoms, suggesting there was a link between that condition and her mental stability.

Paul Melvin, Mrs Hayward’s husband since 2008, described the months leading up to the tragedy in a statement to the court.

“I noticed that she was becoming more depressed,” he said.

“The factor that seemed to push her into steep decline was the job choice.

“She became very anxious and had problems sleeping.

“In the days coming up to her death, she became obsessed with making a decision and couldn’t talk about anything else.”

Note left to son

Mr Melvin said he called his wife for a customary lunchtime chat on May 21 but was told she had run out into a road in front of a lorry and that the police had been called.

Mrs Hayward was taken to a secure unit and on the way called her husband from the ambulance apologising for her actions, the inquest was told.

The court heard she was seen by a psychiatrist after which she was "as calm as she had ever felt", according to Mr Melvin.

He said the mental health team judged Mrs Hayward to have "passed her crises".

“The mental health team had told her to take some time off and she seemed happy with that,” he said.

Mr Melvin described how on the morning of May 23 he had gone to the gym, leaving Mrs Hayward at home.

“The mental health team did not suggest that I should keep an eye on her all the time,” he told the court.

He said that he returned home at around 10.15am but found no sign of his wife, whose car was not in the driveway.

Mr Melvin called the police and reported Mrs Hayward missing, and within 10 minutes an officer was at his house.

He said roughly 20 minutes later the officer got a call on her radio and went outside, before returning to inform him that Mrs Hayward had been killed by a train.

She had left a note to her son Andrew Hayward, the inquest was told.

'Incredibly anxious'

Giving evidence from the witness box, Mr Melvin said his wife had been a "confident and strong person" but that at other times she had a "fragile side she kept hidden".

The court heard she had been a regular gym-goer and loved visiting National Trust properties.

Andrew Hayward also gave evidence at the inquest, saying he saw his mother the day before her death but that she had not revealed to him the incident with the lorry the day before.

“She was incredibly anxious in the last four or five months [of her life],” he said.

“She seemed different in a way I couldn’t describe.”

Coroner Simon Wickens heard how Mrs Hayward had been referred to Anne Deans, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Frimley Park Hospital, in order to change her menopause hormone treatment.

Her son questioned both the consultant and his mother’s GP, Dr Tahira Khatoon, about a possible link between the change of treatment and the deterioration of her mental health.

Both practitioners dismissed this possibility, however, with Dr Khatoon saying Mrs Hayward’s depression and anxiety had been "parallel" to her gynaecological condition and that it had been treated separately.

'Alarm bells'

Giving evidence on Monday afternoon, Ephraim Musarira, from the Home Treatment Team of local mental health services, said he called Mrs Hayward on May 21 to let her know he would be going round the following day to conduct another assessment.